Dear Sir,

ASBOs are often misinterpreted as a punishment for a criminal offence. In fact they are a temporary injunction that can stop a certain antisocial activity. Breaking this injunction can then be a criminal offence. To quote from the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, – it is behaviour which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more people who are not in the same household as the perpetrator.

This involves graffiti, abusive and intimidating language, too often directed at minorities, excessive noise, particularly late at night, fouling the street with litter, drunken behaviour in the streets, and the mess it creates and dealing drugs.

The perpetrator is given a civil order which itself is not a criminal offence such as being given a curfew. A breach of this order becomes a criminal offence. The prosecution must then prove beyond reasonable doubt that the order has been violated. ASBOs are used wherever it is thought that they will be a successful remedy to anti-social behaviour not as commonly thought, as a last resort. But you have to remember that an ASBO is a prevention of future crime not a punishment of crimes already committed.

Alcohol is a factor in a number of violent crimes. 44% of all incidents describe the assailant as being drunk. This is a particular issue in Oundle because there are many pubs and opportunities for youths and adults to get drunk. This can then lead to rowdy behaviour that can involve criminal damage and intimidation of the local population. Luckily an ASBO can stop re-offenders by making it a criminal offence for them to do anti-social things such as hang around in large intimidating groups.

Oliver O’Neill